So last week my husband bought Sucker Punch on DVD and of course we watched it the very same night. Sucker Punch was highly anticipated for me. Someone in my weekly D&D game last year told us about it first and I had been eagerly been awaiting its release ever since. I read (probably on IMDB) that it was pitched to the studio as “Alice in Wonderland with machine guns”.

I’m a wee bit obsessed with anything related to Alice in Wonderland (I was sadly disappointed by the Tim Burton film), so I was stoked to see how this would turn out.

After re-watching it, I could pay more attention to the motifs and was also reminded of the awesome moments that stuck with me the first time I saw it. Overall I would say that the movie is influenced by more than just Alice in Wonderland, elements of many fairy tales and fantasy themes show up. The beginning is more like Snow White or Cinderella with the evil step-motherfather. The lobotomist/”High-roller” is like the huntsman in Snow White and the therapist/dance teacher is like the Fairy Godmother (although she helps Baby Doll too late). I think they fit those roles much better than any from Alice in Wonderland.

Fantasy motifs run a muck in this movie, and I love it! It was like Zac Snyder said to himself, “How can I get ninjas, dragons, zombies, and robots in the same movie?” And IMHO he did it fantastically. In any other movie, it would have ended up being ridiculous, but the purpose they served for the movie as whole made it artistic. Every time baby doll would have ended up becoming super sexualized (when she did her sexy distracting dance), instead she and her companions go on quests that give them power in a powerless situation. Instead of degrading the movie with meaningless sexy time, it tells an amazing fantasy story of a group of companions on a quest!

I’m going to put the break here, because next I wanted to talk about some things that happen towards the end of the movie. So in case you haven’t seen the movie yet (which you should) stop here so I don’t spoil anything for you. Read on if you’ve already seen it!

Artistic misdirection is something Snyder proves he is a master at. After watching it a second time I realized just how little violence is really in the movie. Every time something really dramatic happens he only shows a glimpse of it. For example, when she shoots the gun and accidentally shoots her sister you only see the bullet break the light bulb, not her sister actually being shot. This serves to heighten the drama and also leaves you in suspense a few minutes longer until the big reveal that she shot her sister instead of the creepy stepfather. When Blue shoots Amber and Blondie, you see only someone else’s reaction to it, or the water glass shake with the shock of the gunshot. Seeing someone else’s reaction to it, amps up the drama level in this situation as well. 

As I said before there are a lot of fairy tale motifs at work. The cook made me think of a Big Bad Pig instead of the Big Bad Wolf. The facility is called an “orphanage” and the girls all “orphans”. Orphans are popular fantasy heroes (Harry Potter anyone?). But the second time around I tried to see the connections to Alice in Wonderland and here are all the things I observed:

• Wonderful image right at the beginning where she looks through the peep hole in the door and we see in the reflection of her eye what is happening outside. Looking through the peep hole is very reminiscent of the beginning of Alice in Wonderland after she gets to the bottom of the rabbit hole.
• There’s a rabbit on the big tank thing Amber drives in the WW2 scene.
• The dragon in the medieval scene evokes the jaberwock. 
• When Blue notices there’s something wrong with the map or that things are missing is very similar to the roses not being the right color or the tarts going missing.

As for which characters seem to correspond I came up with:

• Interestingly Blue is the Queen of Hearts for me (he literally takes off the heads of two of the girls). And as I said above he’s the one who brings the girls “to trial”.
• Madame Gorky is the King of Hearts for most of the film, bumbling and seeming like a decent enough person who cares about the girls, except when Blue dominates her she relents.
• The mayor is the caterpillar with his stogy, but he lacks the caterpillar’s existential questions.
• The quest-giver in the alternate realities is definitely the Cheshire cat.
• The cook seems to be the Ugly Duchess, the Cook and the baby that turns into a pig all rolled into one. 
• The girls are where my parallels get a little hazy.
• Because I’m not so sure that ANYONE in the movie represents Alice. If anyone is closer to Alice it would be Sweet Pea. Alice is always questioning the world around her and doesn’t take things at face value. She is the only one to escape from “wonderland” into the real world at the end.
• Baby doll I would equate more closely with the Mad Hatter actually. Recklessly believing in this plan and thoughtless putting her friends in danger. She does redeem herself in the end but only after getting three of the girls killed by her single-mindedness.
• The other girls (although I love Rocket) really just serve to further the plot along for Sweet Pea and Baby Doll, the real protagonists. Yeah, I loved the protag switch-a-roo at the end. Watching it again I definitely realized that other than the very beginning Sweet Pea is definitely a main character. Snyder slips it in on you the first time, which definitely makes the big reveal awesome. I didn’t see it coming (although I rarely do, my husband says).
• But who is the white rabbit? Blue does wear a lot of white and orders people around. However, I think he fits as the Queen of Hearts a lot better.

So obviously, none of the characters fit just perfectly (except Blue as the Queen of Hearts to me) as Alice in Wonderland which proves that this is definitely an original film all Snyder’s own. He definitely has influences from many different fantasy genres but I think they make the film rich and excited. Whereas, it could have ended up fractured and campy.

My overall assessment: the movie is effing brilliant. 

Also if you do buy the DVD, watch the animated short films in the special features. Especially the one titled “Distant Planet”, it was equally brilliant and totally gave that section of the film a completely different spin! Please if you watch that short comment about it here, because I’d love to discuss it with somebody. It was mind-blowing. (Sorry if I’m ruining it by hyping it up so much!)

Crap! I almost forgot to mention how awesome the music is. Because it is, awesome. If you didn’t notice a lot of the music is sung by Emily Browning or the cast of girls. I’m definitely going to have to buy the soundtrack. The non lyrical parts of the film where also awesome and added to the epic fight scenes.

Feel free to leave your own thoughts about the first (or second, or third, etc.) time you saw Sucker Punch.

Coming up next: Recap of my Book Club discussion on Incarceron by Catherine Fisher.